Currently I have Raptor wheels on my Warrior. The rears are 'flipped' so it’s wide enough for me. However, I want to widen the fronts, but have the classic 'flip the rims vs. spacers' problem. If I flip the fronts, then I have to fix the 'valve stem rubbing the calipers' issue. So I have been researching my spacer options, but have read the horror stories about crappy spacers and the installation nightmares.

Alas, I saw on ebay some spacers that look like oversized lug nuts. They have a threaded hole on one end where you screw it onto your existing studs. The other end is a stud itself where you mount the wheel. From an installation point of view - it couldn't be any easier, so I like that! Plus, a set of 8 only would cost me only $27 shipped to my door. However, I am concerned about how they perform. Will this setup be a 'weak point' just waiting to snap off after 1 good jump? I would not call myself an aggressive rider, but I don't shy away from 'small to medium' jumps either.

So...anyone use or have experiences with these? What are the pros and cons? I am not averse to 'fixing' my wheels to I can just flip them....but if these work fine, I would prefer to go this route.

FYI – here is a copy & paste of the description from ebay.

You are bidding on one set of 8 ATV wheel spacers, enough to widen two wheels. These 3.0" ATV wheel spacers (1.50" per side) will fit any ATV using the common 10x1.25mm wheel studs. A wider wheelbase on your bike will offer more stability for jumping and cornering, and also allow you to add larger wheels without lifting your bike.
Our wheel spacers are CNC machined to exact specification from AISI 1045 steel with a 180,000 PSI tensile strength. ATV Wheel Spacers are finished with a zinc dichromate plating process to prevent rusting. Each set is hand tested and commercially packed.
Installation:
This set of ATV Wheel spacers will fit any ATV with 10mm X 1.25 thread pitch, regardless of bolt spacing. Simply remove your wheels, bolt the spacers onto the wheel studs until the flat base fits secure against the wheel hub, and re-mount your wheels. It is that simple.
Warranty:
We offer a lifetime warranty on all our products.

 

Man ... I dont know about that. I haven't heard anything one way or the other but I think that I would definitely be worried about it enough not to get them. The stress that everything sees even with a spacer has got to be considerable but there is still a lot of material there to take the load of a jump. Then you take all that material away and just basically put sleeves on the lug bolts behind the wheel and extend the lug bolts now you not only have the added stress of the wheel being further from the hub but now all your lug bolts are bending every time you put a big load on them.

I think your asking for a wreck. I think even if 50 people told me that it would be ok, just for the piece of mind i would try something else.

 

I suspect you hit the nail on the head Swerve. I was thinking along those lines too. The tire shop around the corner has been very reasonable on the pricing for me so far...I may head down there with my fronts and see what they can do about the valve stem. Maybe install a shorter or one of those 'flush' ones. In the end, flipping the fronts would widen it out enough for me to be happy...and I would probably be a lot more comfortable in the seat not worrying about snapping off a wheel stud. Of course...then I would have to worry about exposed calipers

 

Yea it's not worth the money if you brake something else and not worth it at all if you end up with a hospital bill from wreck. Wheels are pretty essential. As far as the calipers either way they are going to be more exposed but they will be fine, unless you just plow into a big tree right on the caliper.

 

I run 5" ones on my warrior, mainly because the radiator will rub the tires if i don't. This was a quick fix for me, until i get around to making my custom a arms. As far as the wheel extenders go, they have not come loose, and have not bent yet. I assume they are rough on the bearings, there is also quite a bit of bump steer but that is to be expected.

 

another way to flip the front is by removing the old stem and welding a little patch over it then putting a stem on the other side so there wont even be a stem on the inside to hit the caliper, i thought about the idea of flipping the old stem inside out so u dunt have to weld the hole then put a second stem on the other side, but i dont think it would seal right if u flipped the stem over since its not a flat surface the stem seals on like a concave surface and prolly wouldnt seal if flipped over.

 

I reversed my fronts put a valve stem in the orig. hole backwards, on that valve stem I filled a valve stem cap with silicone and screwed it on just to make sure it didnt leak past the core, drilled a new hole on the other side and put a new valve stem in,put the new tires on, works great on my 93 warrior.

 

Forget that type of spacer. The more solid ones are fine of you don't jump or have a tendency to run into things. Flipping the rims is an easy way to widen the front and is fairly cheap. What needs to happen is you dismount the tires, take out the valve stem and remount it "inside out" i.e. it opens up inside the tire when that is put back on. drill a new hole on the opposite side of the rim (so it will be in the right place with the wheel "flipped.") and place a brand new stem there. Remount the tires and you should be good to go. You will get more bump steer, but this is a good alternative until you can either buy new offset front rims, or preferably wider a-arms/shocks.

 

Good info...thanks guys. I will go the flip route. What size hole did you drill in the wheel to mount the new valve stem?

 

I believe I used a 3/8 drill bit, but it says on the package of new valve stems what size hole there for, they come in two hole sizes, get the ones for the smaller hole,and you can get em at any auto parts store.